


The Sixth Blight- Chapter One- Judge Me Worthy Of Your Endless Pride

by BelleWrites (sunleyemrys)



Series: The Sixth Blight RP [22]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: AU, OC, Role-Playing Game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 14:19:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15820626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunleyemrys/pseuds/BelleWrites
Summary: Big ass project to turn the collaborative role play writing I've been doing with a group of friends into a cohesive story. Some things will be edited from the original posts.. but this is largely just cleaning it up and putting everything in order. Each major plot point will be its own post with chapters. Hopefully the story will make sense.Other parts in the series happen at the same time as some of the chapters, so if something seems to missing, its likely cause there is a piece of the story not posted yet. Just please be patient with me.





	The Sixth Blight- Chapter One- Judge Me Worthy Of Your Endless Pride

He found the way to the mess hall without problems this time, but from there it was quite a journey to the Firsts office. Located in the back of the fortress, he had to walk through a maze of smaller hallways and paths until the finally saw a female Warden guarding a door, dressed in full armor and a heavy sword at her side. He took a moment to collect himself, then stepped forward, every bit as regal and serene as he could manage.

When he reached the guard, he swiftly put a small smile on his face and began talking. "Greetings, Warden. I'm not sure we've met, I am Sares, member of the circle embassy in Minrathous. I arrived here yesterday and the First told me to visit him once my wounds have been dealt with to further discuss the measures of my stay here. Is he available now or should I return at a later time?"

She stared at him impassively, and slowly opened the door, peeking inside on the First Warden. She closed the door silently, meeting Sares's gaze. "He is sleeping at the moment. Drooling all over reports."

Her eyes sparkled with a mischievous glint. "One moment."

She handed the heavy sword to Sares and reentered the office silently, ensuring the door closed behind her. Sares was left only with muffled sounds of slapping and shouts and what was possibly a window breaking, before she emerged, red faced holding the door open for him.

"He is ready to see you now." The First could be seen through the doorway, blinking slowly and angrily at the woman, a red hand print blossoming across his cheek. "Go on now, he doesnt bite."

Holding the sword with both hands and trying his best not to drop it on the floor, he had to do his best to not give away even the slightest hint of amusement. He thanked the guard and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. A large desk was filling most of the room and behind it was the First, now straightening in his seat. Sares stopped in front of him and hesitated for just a moment. "First Warden, I hope I did not interrupt you at anything too important, but I figured we should have our talk rather sooner than later, as my position here right now is somewhat awkward."

He settled in a a bit more comfortable position and considered his choice of words carefully. "You are understandably upset by the lack of help from the south, though right now I am here only as a representative of the Circle of Magi and the chantry, not Orlais or Ferelden, though they obviously know of about it. Nevertheless, if there is a risk of a blight happening, we are obviously not going to just stand by idly, especially considering Ferelden was affected by it only 30 years ago. As such, we would suggest the installation of a representative of the circles here who is in permanent contact with the embassy in Minrathous, which in turn is able to provide contact to the south without delay. For now, we are willing to provide a certain amount of recruits as well as knowledge and support in training them."

The First rubbed his cheeks, feeling stubble already, there was constant buzzing in his head, growing louder and louder. He cleared his throat once the busybody mage ceased chattering, "Are you volunteering for this position? And once established here, where would your loyalties lie?"

He studied the man carefully, middle aged, but very healthy and not given to the paunch most older Circle mages had. "Would it be to a throne? The Circle? The Chantry? Because I wont have divided loyalties here. I have enough crazed mages running around this fortress, one is enough. If you do this, you join the Wardens."

The First fixed Sares with a hard glare. "What say you then?"

He took a deep breath and looked the old man directly in the eyes. "My loyalties lie with the circle, and nothing will change that. As such, I will not become one of your wardens. And as I said before, I am the messenger, my mission is to see if a connection is able and worth establishing, everything after that falls in the hands of my superior in the embassy in Minrathous. They will choose a candidate and send him here, after which I will return to whatever duty I'll have assigned to me next. I only ask for temporary quarters and if necessary access to your quartermaster here, during which I will travel between Minrathous and Weisshaupt, until everything is properly set up." He stopped, a dry smile appearing on his face, but his eyes did not move. "We do not wish to pry for any information you are not willing to give us, but we do expect the same from you. In the past, both the south and the wardens have done things we may now regret and so it will take time to rebuild trust and credibility for both sides."

His brow furrowed, "You arent about to start tossing people out of windows because you dislike them?"

The First really didnt want a random Tevinter mage in the fortress, and he was loathe to admit that the Wardens needed to re-establish ties with the South.

Sares at least seemed willing to compromise.

"Fine, if you wont join, and I've seen my fair share of forged credentials, I shall send letters to the places you claim to represent. Until I can verify you are what you say you are. You stay here." A thought occurred, and he smirked slightly. "In the Tower. You will have to share with another mage, she also refused to join. Her name is Maeve."

The First grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a small missive down, sealing it quickly. "Give this to her aide. Please dont make the girl cry." He waved dismissively at Sares, pulling out papers and beginning to write.

***

The girl stood, staring owlishly at the tall mage. "The First sent you? Here? To share the Tower? With her?"

The paper fluttered in the breeze, her fingers holding it tightly. "What did you do to anger him? He hates her. She wont leave, and none of her 'aides' last long. Are you replacing me as her aid?" Daisy reread the note, frowning.

"No, you arent. The First is punishing you, and somehow I am caught in the middle of their argument, again" She stepped back from the door, letting him enter.

"I'll be down here while you introduce yourself. Try to stand near the east window, it overlooks a lake." She shook her head and began tidying up, giving Sares mournful gazes.

Another mage who also refuses to join. Whatever the First was trying here, it had Sares worried. And after meeting the aide, his worries started to grow. He slowly started to get up the stairs, looking around the tower. There were shelves with books, papers with writing everywhere and empty bottles of wine covered in dust. He had honestly no idea what to expect here.

When he reached the top floor, there was an open window to his right. In the middle of a room, an older woman was standing and scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment, muttering to herself. He walked over to have the window in his back and when he cleared his throat, she turned around, staring at him angrily. "Uhm, hello. My name is Sares, I was sent here to apparently get quarters for some time? The First sent me, though it seems to me that he wants to punish me somehow... for something."

Without speaking she lunged forward, both hands grabbing the front of Sares's robes and she rolled backwards, one of her feet planting squarely on his chest to pitch him out the window nearby.

Standing up gracefully, Maeve dusted herself off yelling down the stairs, "Girl! Be a dear and scrape the man off the cobblestones before someone sees him."

Humming happily to herself, she resumed her furious scribbling.

***

Suddenly he was in the air and the ground was coming closer fast. He struggled for a moment, then managed to concentrate on the spell. His form shifted and a moment later there was a large eagle in his stead. His claws almost touched the ground when he regained control and, with a few strong moves of his wings, he shot up, back to the window.

He had to keep his wings close to his body but managed to pass through. The woman had turned again and was humming to herself. Sares stared at her for a moment, then he ended the spell and cleared his throat again. When she turned around, he gave her a big smile. "So as I was saying, for some reason the First wants to punish both of us. Can we skip the window part now? Or should I just stay in my eagle form until we both get tired of this?"

She sighed heavily, snapping her fingers casting Crushing Prison around the man. "The First sent you? The First? That tired old geezer? I dont share My Tower with anyone. I barely tolerate the girl, and that is because she makes no noise as she flits about!"

The bars pressed inward as she glared, walking closer. "And now he wants me to share with a stranger? With a mage who changes his shape so much, he is barely human?!"

The spell shattered into sparks as Maeve threw up her hands with a yell. "FINE!" She jabbed a finger in his face, bright green eyes blazing into his. "But no funny business! You sleep in the basement, and the girl locks you in at night! I'll not have you wandering my Tower at all hours, touching things with your greasy man-hands."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Now go fetch me supper! I want the good wine the cook hides and tiny cakes! And dont you dare speak to me if you've consumed the dead flesh of animals, I cannot abide the smell."

"GO!" Maeve shoved him out the door, slamming it shut.

He was speechless. For the first time in years, he could only stare at the door in front of him, confusion about what had just happened filling his mind. He must've really upset the First if he deserved to be sent here. And yet, somehow he felt like laughing. He'd been thrown out a window, screamed at and even held in a high-level arcane spell, but he could not help himself, he'd either laugh about it all, or he'd probably go insane. If he wasn't already, you could never be sure. After taking a few deep breaths, he slowly wandered downstairs again.

The aide, Daisy, was just coming back inside and seemed shocked to see him walk down the stairs. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, he interrupted her. "Yes, yes, she threw me out of the window, but as you can see, that did not have the effect she wished for. Now, I need a few answers and, since she refuses to say anything to me that is not an insult, you'll have to do. Who is she and what is her deal? And why is this her tower and, most importantly, why does she sent me away to get supper for her?!"

Daisy shook her head, leading Sares outside and hopefully away from Maeve's hearing. "I dont know the whole story, or even if what I know is true." She looked around cautiously before nodding and continuing. "Some say she was once the First's lover, others says they are siblings. But everyone agrees, she is here to bother him."

She took a breath, still nervous about being behind heard. "During the Mage Uprising, Weisshaupt was basically emptied of Wardens, and some say she was fleeing the Circles, other people think shes a deposed Tevinter Magister. Only the First knows the truth, and is he either scared or simply unwilling to share the information."

"She took over the Tower because its the tallest one here, she rebuilt it with her bare hands when no one wanted to repair it. Which," Daisy shrugged. "It was the former Magi Tower. Ser Enchanter, I cant tell you what her deal is, honestly I cant. She is a brilliant instructor though, and most of the Warden mages have studied with her."

Daisy gave Sares a solemn look, "As for why you are fetching her meal for her, well, if you are in the Tower, you are under her command. Its just a truth that is accepted around here." She patted his shoulder, "And you had best hurry with it, she likes to eat promptly on the hour."

The girl gave him a brief nodded and vanished, off to run whatever errand Maeve had assigned her.

He was left there, standing alone in front of the tower. How angry did he make the First to get thrown in this situation. He had to commend him though, there was no escape for him at the moment and no warden would help him. Sares had to find his own way through this. With a sigh and one last look at the tower above him, he started moving towards the mess hall.

Maeves behaviour was well known throughout the fortress, it seemed. He had noticed more than just a few wardens giving him sympathetic looks as he described his situation and, weirdly enough, the tiny cakes he had gotten seemed pretty good, for a fortress out in a desert. He was not convinced by the wine though. It was not bad, but also not really special and not something he would call good, but well, it was drinkable. Thankfully he was prepared. On his way back, he had picked up his backpack and gotten the flask of wine he had brought from Hossberg out. It was good, expensive wine straight from Orlais and he really wanted to drink it himself, but it seemed like some sacrifices could not be avoided. Maybe she would at least listen to him, this time.

When he arrived at the top floor of the tower, one hand filled with a plate with small cakes and two bottles of wine in the other, he hesitated for a moment, then used his foot to knock on the door and stepped to the side, waiting for the door to move.

The door was yanked up with a stern, "WHAT?!" Maeve's eyes fixed on the plate of food and wine in Sares's hand. "Well? What are you waiting for? I dont have time to usher you around, or answer doors."

She gestured wildly at a cluttered table, "put them over there. I'm busy." Maeve scurried back to her charts and bowls, carefully pinching bright powder and adding it some liquid bubbling nearby. "Ah, I see."

Maeve fixed Sares with a look, "you'll do." Before he could react, she had dashed forward, pricking the skin of his forearm and obtaining a drop of blood, adding it to the mixture.

"Yes, that will do nicely." She left the bubbly mixture to attend to the plate of food and wine, uncorking the bottle and drinking straight from its mouth, biting a cake in half, spilling crumbs everywhere.

He just looked at her, then at his forearm, then at Maeve again. "That is a 62 year old orlaisian wine from the Fields of Ghislain and you are drinking it straight from the bottle. I think of all the things I've seen you do, this is the worst, and that includes throwing me out a window and casting a spell on me. I really should've just given you the wine the wardens in the mess hall gave to me, but I suppose I will just drink it myself and hopefully forget about what just happened."

He moved closer to the table, looking at the strange experiment brewing there. "Do I get to know what you're using my blood for, or is becoming on of your experimental slaves also one of my new duties I did not sign up for?"

Letting out a loud belch as the bottle came from her lips, Maeve seemed consider something, exchanging a quick look at Sares then at the empty bottle in her hands. With a brief shrug, she tossed the bottle over her shoulder, it catching on the edge of the window shattering with shards clattering to the floor and out the window.

"You best watch your tone with me boy. But since I am in a giving mood, yes I will tell you why I took a single drop of your blood." Her green eyes rolled as she muttered, "As if I would turn someone into a thrall. Too much effort using blood magic to control someone."

Maeve gestured for Sares to stand near an open window, thankfully not the one with glass shards littering the floor. "This potion allows a shapeshifter, bestial though they are, the ability to shift from one animal shape to another," She held up a finger to stop his question. "Without having to change back to their human skin."

Maeve looked at the brew curiously, "or you might explode. Oh well!"

She quickly poured the contents into a small vial and approached him, grinning sinisterly. "Open wide!" She stomped her bare foot over one of his, and in Sares's yelp of pain dumped the potion down his throat.

"Swallow it all deary! Thats a good boy." She rubbed his throat much like one would rub animal's throat to encourage ingestion.

Once Sares had finished taking the potion, Maeve gave him a forcible shove out the window, shouting, "Now try two different forms before you come back up!"

Before he could react, he was flying backwards again, the strange taste of the potion still lingering in the back of his mouth. At least he could not see the ground coming closer this time and while he was not as surprised by her actions this time, he still cursed inwardly.

This time, he turned into a swarm of insects and began hovering above the ground. He hoped no one saw him, as a man falling out of a window and turning into a tiny insects would surely disturb more than a few people around. Flying back up, he wondered if the potion had an effect as he did not really feel any different. The swarm passed through the window and stayed there for a moment, Maeve looking at him expectedly. So instead of ending the spell and returning to his human form, he tried to concentrate, though choosing his insect form had not been his smartest choice, but he managed and, to his surprise, he started changing, assuming the form of a bear.

His surprise lasted only for a moment, then pain flared through his entire body and he broke down, every muscle feeling burning hot and he was pretty sure his vision blacked out for a moment. He could note move, could not do anything besides lying on the floor.

The pain weakened after a few moments, but did not completely stop. Like a dull pulse, it lingered in his arms and legs and with a considerable effort, he managed to stop the spell. In his human shape on the floor, Sares managed to lift his head and look at Maeve, his throat feeling sore and bloodied. "It...It works, I suppose, but if there is this amount of pain involved every time I try it, I think I'd rather explode."

She crouched in front of him, hands glowing faintly. "The pain will likely fade in time. If not," Maeve shrugged. "You either adapt to the pain, or eventually explode."

She walked over to the shelves, squinting at the various bottles of liquids. "This one." Maeve rolled the vial across the floor towards him. "Drink that, and then describe exactly how it felt to shift from bugs to a bear."

Maeve grabbed the other bottle of wine and began drinking, scribbling down notes and observations.

He just stared at the vial and then at Maeve. Managing to get up to his feet, he held the liquid in one hand while supporting his shaky body with the other arm, leaning on a table to his left. After taking a few deep breaths, he downed the contents of the flask with a swift motion and felt the pain fade away. When he spoke, his voice sounded more hollow than before.

"It felt weird. It's already hard enough to be in the insect form and concentrate on things, since your body is split into hundreds of tiny minds all working together. The process itself was not much different compare to how it usually feels when I'm in human form, but after the transformation was complete, it felt like my whole body was burning up, there was just pain everywhere. It ebbed away a little, but still did not go completely, though the center of it seemed to shift towards my arms and legs." He straightened and tried to regain his composure, at least a little. "What happens if I cast a different spell now? Will I explode and ruin your chamber or just plummet to the floor again?"

She gave a non-committal grunt, "How should I know? Try it and see what happens. You Circle mages, so afraid to test the bounds of established magic."

Maeve continued to furiously write things down, daintily holding a small cake in her free hand, nibbling away. "Magic has a lot of rules, not the ones you think, but with the right application and knowledge, you can bend those rules to create something new."

An eyebrow quirked up at Sares, "How old do you think I am? Be honest, you wont hurt my feelings. I drowned them years ago."

He snorted, still trying to get used to the way this woman acted. "Oh, sure, let us explore the rules and boundaries of magic, without a warning, oh, you also might explode, don't worry about it, it's for science and progress." Sares eyed her suspiciously, then sighted, trying to suppress another groan. "I have no idea and I don't really care either, it's none of my business. If I had to guess I would say you're around 60 years old, maybe a few years more."

Maeve's green eyes narrowed, "I will take the compliment young man. Though you are lying to try and save your skin."

"Officially, I'm not sure how old I am, because there is no record of my birth and my earliest memory is running away from a Magister into the arms of a Templar. Who, did what all of his kind do, threw me into a Circle, and well, from the pot into the fire as they."

She scowled, "you look like shit. DAISY!" The girl appeared, stepping out of the shadows. "Good girl. Show the poor mage here to his rooms, and possibly the baths, he smells like damp bear."

"Oh, and bring me more wine when you return. Lots of it. Nic it from the First, hes hiding the Dalish ice wine again. And I want it." She shooed them both out, returning to her work.

Following Daisy downstairs to the second level of the tower, Sares really just wanted a few moments for himself, to calm down and collect himself. And truth be told, a bath sounded great, but he still had only his old clothes at the moment. This reminded him that he had told Gwyn that they could meet up. And honestly, after dealing with that woman, he just needed someone who at least on the outside seemed sane.

Daisy pulled a key out of her pocket and opened a door. Behind it, a dusty chamber with shelves and a desk revealed itself to Sares and after looking for a moment, he could see an old bed in one corner. He would need to clean, but then it should be comfortable enough, even if he did not look forward to sharing a building with Maeve, especially if she tried to lock him inside for the night.

It took him only a short while to bring the things he had carried to Weisshaupt into the room and after only a little while more it was cleaned enough to not be terrible. He had sent Daisy away after asking her about the wine Maeve had talked about earlier, but it seemed like that would take some serious work to get his hands on, so he put it off for the moment. For now, he just wanted to relax for a bit. Closing the room and leaving the tower, he set out to search for Gwyn or one of the other wardens he had met so far.


End file.
